The court heard Mr Catalin Cretu had come to Ireland ten days before he was killed to guard his girlfriend and another woman who were working as prostitutes in an apartment.

The court also heard that at round 11pm, Mr Trebacz and another man burst in to the apartment and Mr Trebacz stabbed Mr Catalin Cretu in the back and chest and pushed him into the living room on to a sofa where he died.

In his opening statement, Prosecuting Counsel Patrick McGrath also told the jury that the accused was looking for money and that after he was stabbed the victim told the women to give these men money.

The incident lasted four minutes he said and they left the apartment with €300.

According to the prosecution the victim's girlfriend, who previously worked as a prostitute in Longford for another Romanian man, will testify during the murder trial but the other woman, known as "strop" who was also working as a prostitute, left the scene and cannot be traced.